Government and Social Partners Have Agreed on Criteria for Calculating Minimum Wage for 2027

The government and social partners have agreed to work on a new mechanism for calculating the minimum wage, to be introduced in 2027. The agreement was reached during the first round of talks held today, Aaugust 11, at the Ministry of Finance. This was announced by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy.

The working group includes Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Galab Donev, Labour and Social Policy Minister Natalia Efremova, the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB), Confederation of Labour 'Podkrepa' Trade Union, the Bulgarian Industrial Association, the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association, the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Representatives of the National Statistical Institute also took part in the meeting.

The parties agreed to introduce a statutory model for determining the minimum wage and reached agreement on criteria including the purchasing power of the minimum wage, taking into account the cost of living; the overall level and distribution of wages; the rate of wage growth; and long-term trends in labour productivity in the country, the statement said. It added that participants had also agreed that the adequacy of the country's minimum wage should be assessed once every four years.

“We need to develop quickly and as a matter of urgency a mechanism for calculating the minimum wage that is consistent with the EU Directive on adequate minimum wages and International Labour Organisation Convention 131,” Galab Donev said at the start of the meeting.

“Every stage of the negotiating process will be discussed with the trade unions and employers,” Labour and Social Policy Minister Natalia Efremova said.

Talks between the government and social partners on how the minimum wage should be determined will continue, the statement said.

Parliament decided that a new mechanism for determining the national minimum wage should be developed and that, until then, it should remain at the 2026 level of €620. On 24 July, MPs approved at second reading provisions of the state budget bill for this year. Under the provisions adopted, the Council of Ministers, on a proposal from the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister and the Labour and Social Policy Minister, is to approve a bill amending the rules for determining the national minimum wage. Until the amendments are adopted, the minimum wage will remain at the level set for 2026.